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Dear
Randy,
We
hope this newsletter finds you well! The
many advocates of JFC, such as yourself, are
working hard to bring major changes to Justice for
Children in order to help MORE children that are
normally kept silent in their suffering.
Although we can't show you their faces, our hope
is that you will see the work that JFC is doing
for these children "of the secret" and support our
efforts.
We
have many events coming up! Please let us
know if you would like to join us! We are
always looking for additional champions for our
cause.
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Randy
Burton, Founder of JFC, gives keynote at Houston
Bar Association |
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At
the Houston Bar Association, celebrating Law Day,
Randy Burton gave the keynote address. Randy
talked about Justice for Children to the legal
community of Houston. In addition to being a
personal tribute to Randy, the Bar Association
recognizes the importance of the work of the
organization Randy founded 21 years ago.
Bravo to Randy for all that he does to help abused
children. This is a well deserved
honor. |
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Save
the Date! |
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![save the date]()
The annual
JFC Gala will take
place on
May
2nd at the Four Seasons Hotel
Downtown.
HONORING
DON NEUENSCHWANDER
Founder
of MyFriends Foundation and major supporter of
JFC.
Contact
Laura and Lee Slataper, Gala Chairs,
for sponsorhips opportunities or additional
information.
lauraslataper@att.net
(713)
660-6211 |
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Randy
Burton Moderate's FLDS
Discussion |
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On
July 31st, Randy Burton moderated a panel
discussion on the FLDS case and was a presenter.
The presentation was before several hundred
members of the Downtown Rotary Club of Houston
held at the Junior League. The participants
included 2 attorneys ad litem for the children
(Donna Broom, Managing Attorney for South Texas
College of Law Legal Clinics; and, Annette
Lamoreaux, Legal Director of the Texas Advocacy
Project), Stuart Gagnon with Fulbright, and Terri
Langford with The Houston
Chronicle. The panelists, except for
Terri, who focused on the history of the story and
the stonewalling by the government, spoke mostly
to the trauma to the children from being separated
from their "family." Randy's presentation
focused on the child abuse case and the protection
of the children.
Randy's
argument was and is that CPS is mandated to remove
all children from the family when felonious abuse
is suspected. Randy stated "Given that the
FLDS members do not recognize a traditional
definition of the family (going so far as to
remove mothers and children from one man and
"reassigning" them to another,) how can the
government or the courts determine where the
family members start and where it
ends?"
Randy also strongly
commended CPS for their decision to remove these
children. He received much positive feedback
and several offers of assistance for Justice for
Children after the presentaion. As he
left the building, he was also approached by
George Ford (Executive Director, Harris County
CPS) and Estella Olguin (Public Information
Officer, Harris County CPS). Both were very
gracious and thankful for the positive
affirmation.
The discussion was
recorded by a reporter for National Public Radio
(NPR) and a story about it on the morning of
August 1st on
NPR. |
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New
Development
Committee
JFC recently created
and developed a new Development Committee, led by
Debra A. McLaurin, Development Director for
JFC.
A
huge thank you goes out to the following members
of the committee (who were also responsble for
making this newsletter
happen):
- Margaret
Ceconi, Managing Director, WoodRock &
Co.
- Blaine
Douglas, Financial Advisor, Merrill
Lynch
- Flora
Francis, Counsel, Investigations &
Litigation, Vetco Gray Oil and
Gas
- Melanie
Gray, Partner, Weil Gotshal &
Manges
- Joseph
Hill, Vice President, Risk Manager, Risk
Management
- Alexis
McCarty, President, Interior Graphics Division
of Neon Electric Corp.
- Scott
McLaughlin, Jackson and Walker Attorneys At
Law
- Lee
Slataper, Retired, Health Care Consultant
Firm
- Michael
L.F. Slavin, CEO, Bulldog Exploration
Company
- Jen
Sudduth, Managing Director, Taylor Winfield,
Inc.
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Taylor
Winfield, a retained, executive search firm,
will host a Holiday Wine Tasting event at
The Wine Bucket with contributions going
to Justice For Children.
Please
join us for some fun networking and celebration of
the fabulous work done by JFC throughout the
year.
Location: Wine
Bucket
2311
W
Alabama
Date: Thursday, Dec.
18
$20
Donation at the door for JFC is encouraged
Complimentary
wine and appetizers will be
served |
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Our
Mission |
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To
raise the consciousness of our society about the
failure of our governmental agencies to protect
victims of child abuse, to provide legal advocacy
for abused children and to develop and implement
collaborative solutions to enhance the quality of
life for these
children.
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Each
year, in almost half of all confirmed cases of
child abuse, children do not receive any type of
service to prevent re-abuse. Justice for
Chidren is there.
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WHAT
WE DO |
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Justice
for Children functions as the voice of the
abused and neglected child. We remain unique in
our purpose to advocate and intervene on behalf of
the abused and neglected child at any stage of an
abused child's case. Our advocacy for a child is
not dependent on a court appointment. Therefore,
our advocacy for the child's safety and protection
can become a reality long before the case even
goes to court. This distinction is critical when
it comes to protecting an abused or neglected
child since sometimes by the time the child's case
gets to court-it's too
late.
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LIST |
Below
is a "wish list" of items we are in need of to keep our
operations strong. If you can donate your money items,
or time, please call James Shields, Executive Director,
Justice for Children
713-225-4357.
- Laptop (s) for
office use
- Pro-bono
graphic design services
- Pro-bono PR
services
- Sponsorhips for
gala (ranges from $500 - $25,000)
- Donations to
support additional case manager (salary about 45k per year)
- Volunteer to
help produce this newsletter.
- Donations to
help save a child.
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